Without Krishna consciousness, all living beings function in madness; Krishna is the supreme director of nature.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lecture — July 20, 1971, New York 710720LE-NEW YORK [37:36 Minutes] Lecture_710720LE-NEW YORK Prabhupāda: om ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ ["I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance."] śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam ["When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?"] he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te ["O my dear Kṛṣṇa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd men and the lover of the gopīs, especially Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."] tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgī rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye ["I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa."] hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare ["My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service."] śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda ["I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion."] [01:12] So Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you very much for your coming here and participating with this movement. It is very important movement to bring man to his original consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to bring a living entity to his original consciousness.
Just like there are many mental hospitals. [aside:] What is that? Bellevue? In your city? The purpose of the hospital is to bring a crazy fellow to his original consciousness. Similarly, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to bring all crazy men to his original consciousness.
Anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is to be understood more or less crazy. There was a case in India, a murder case, and the murderer pleaded that he became mad—he was mad; therefore he..., he did not know what did he do. So in order to test him, whether actually he, at that time, was lunatic or turned mad, the expert civil servant, psychiatrist, was brought to examine him. So the doctor gave his opinion that "So far I have studied cases, all patients I've come in contact, they are more or less all crazy. So in that sense, if your lordship wants to excuse him, that is another thing." So that is the fact.
In a nice Bengali poetry, one great Vaiṣṇava poet has written, piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya māyā-grasta jīvera se dāsa upajaya [Prema-vivarta] Piśācī, ghost, when a man becomes ghostly haunted, he speaks so many nonsense. Similarly, anyone who is under the influence of this material nature, he is ghostly haunted, and whatever he speaks, he speaks nonsense. Never mind he is a great philosopher, great scientist, but because he is ghostly haunted by māyā, so whatever he's theorizing, whatever he's speaking, that is, more or less, nonsense. So our this movement is to bring man to his original consciousness, which is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, clear consciousness. I have several times mentioned this.
Just like water, when it falls down from the cloud, it is distilled water. You catch water before falling down to the ground, it is distilled water. The chem... As distilled water is without any contamination, similarly, the rainwater is also distilled water.
But as soon as it touches the ground, it becomes muddy-colored, so many things. Similarly, we spirit soul, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa... Therefore our original constitutional position is as pure as God, because we are part and parcel of God. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg. 15.7]: "The living entities are My part and parcel." So fragmental part of gold is gold; it may be fragmental. Similarly, we are minute particles of God's body; therefore, qualitatively, we are as good as God. The chemical composition of God's body and our body...
Not this body. This is material. I am speaking of our spiritual identification, that body. That is as good as God.